Phillies deal Michael Schwimer to Toronto

The Phillies began to unravel their bullpen logjam Saturday by sending reliever Michael Schwimer to Toronto for young minor league first baseman Art Charles.

The 27-year-old Schwimer was up and down between the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and the Phillies the last two seasons, appearing in 47 major league games including 35 last year when he was 2-1 with a 4.46 ERA.

However, Schwimer was also involved in two high-profile incidents off the field last season. In July while with the IronPigs Schwimer used his Twitter account to congratulate teammates Jake Diekman, Raul Valdes and Hector Luna on an upcoming promotion to the majors before the Phillies announced the moves — and before they told Brian Sanches and Erik Kratz, two players being sent down to make room, about the move.

Then, in mid-August, Schwimer balked at being sent down to the IronPigs, maintaining that he had a shoulder injury and should be placed on the disabled list. After seeking outside medical opinions, Schwimer, an International League all-star in 2011 who 13-4 with 16 saves in 78 games with Lehigh Valley over three seasons, eventually reported but didn't pitch in the closing days of the IronPigs season and also wasn't called up to the Phillies in September.

That incident, Schwimer told reporters in Clearwater Saturday, is "definitely an open issue" and could eventually result in a grievance being filed, although both Schwimer and Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said the medical incident wasn't a factor in the deal.

Schwimer, the Phillies' 14th-round pick in 2008, said the Phillies wouldn't "let any petty differences affect them wanting to win," while Amaro said the team was going to have some "roster issues down the pike" in the bullpen.

"We could have waited but we felt this was the right thing to do right now for us,"

Amaro said.

Speaking to reporters in Clearwater, Phillies pitching coach Rich Dubee described Schwimer as "an arm that should pitch in the big leagues if he sticks to doing things the right way instead of being too macho at times and coming out of his delivery."

As for the 22-year-old Charles, he's a 6-foot-6 left-handed hitter who was Toronto's 20th-round pick in 2010 out of Bakersfield College. A year ago he hit a combined .236 with 13 homers and 34 RBI in 68 games for Toronto's rookie league and short-season teams.